My 2003 VW Jetta TDI has a major problem. The engine has likely been damaged by an oil leak that was not discovered until the oil ran out. I now have much reduced compression (340lbs or less) and the car doesn't like to start in cold weather and when it does it smokes much. I need to know if it is worth rebuilding and, if so, where I might have this work done.
View 1 Replies2 nights ago I was driving around the neighborhood. I was coming down a small hill to a stop sign where I could only make a right or a left. I proceeded to turn right and a dog ran in front of the car. I swerved to the left, managing to not hit the dog but run flat into the sidewalk. In the moment it felt like my bumper had just scraped the edge and it sounded like I had just scatched the bottom of the bumper. I proceeded down the street for about 2-3 minutes before my car started slowing down. The engine was still on but when I pushed down on the pedal to accelerate the engine just revved.
When I looked down to see if maybe I had knocked the car into neutral, I couldn't move the shifter and it appeared to be stuck in reverse? When I tried pulling my car to the side of the road I found that now my steering wheel was also locked up and could barely tug it enough to get it moved over. Finally, I made it to the side of the road and now my brakes were locked as well. I managed to stop it with the e-brake but still the shifter wouldn't budge to put it in park. I turned the car off to avoid damaging the engine. I didn't address this problem immediately so I came back the following day to check it out, and couldn't get the car to turn over. I had power, the battery was fine, the engine wouldn't even make a noise like it was trying.
Eventually I looked underneath the car and saw the oil leaking from what I believe is the oil pan? This is my first car and know absolutely nothing about how an engine works. Could this be a computer response so that the engine doesn't seize? Again, the brakes, the gear shifter,and the steering wheel are all locked and won't budge. I used the emergency release lever to realease the gear shifter and was able to pull it into neutral and start the engine but I had to hold the shifter firmly the whole time and if I let go it would pop back into reverse(but it still rolls forward like it's in neutral?). Is this something a warranty or insurance would cover? Hopefully this is just the oil pan because I do not have a fraction of the money to get my transmission or engine entirely replaced.. It's a 2013 VW Jetta 2.5SE with 45k miles on it.
My troubles began several months ago when while on the Pike the coolant sensor came on with a heart attack-inducing alarm beep on my 2001 Turbo VW Jetta. The billowing steam pretty much gave away the major coolant leak that had decided to erupt in the engine. Brought it to my local mechanic who promptly fixed the problem. About 2 weeks later, the light came on again, so I brought it back to him. He found some additional minor cracks in the engine tubing. Fixed it again. 2 weeks later....yep, you guessed it, the light comes back on. After 3 more visits with pressure testing and dye added, no leak can be found. We then tried the leak repair stuff....that was about 2 weeks ago now....and, yes, the light has come back on again.
The car is in very good shape with just over 100K miles on it and just had a lot of the biggies done on it in the last year (shocks, belts, brakes). I would love to get another year out of it since I just put all this money into it, but I'm getting tired of having to bring it to the shop every couple of weeks. I also don't want to get stranded if something decides to give way in some spectacular fashion.
So, my questions here:
1. Do I try the repair leak stuff again to see if that will work?
2. Is there any other possible causes that wouldn't require an engine rebuild that we should look at?
3. Do I just suck it up and carry around spare coolant with me topping it up as it gets eaten?
4. Do I call it a day and start looking for a new car?
I have a 2003 VW Jetta TDI and the check engine light has been staying on solid (not flashing) for a couple of months. I took it to my local dealer who tested the computer and said that it was the thermostat and a related sensor. That answer didn't seem to make sense, and unfortunately I didn?t get the code from the dealer at the time. I did though have the code read recently at another shop and it said: "Code P0674 which is #4 glow plug circuit - Q13 - electrical fault sporadic." What this means?
View 6 RepliesI have been having a problem with an oil leak around this sensor port in my Jetta, I'm not really sure which sensor this is. The sensor itself is covered with a rubber hood that covers the connector, when I start the engine, it blows this hood back, revealing the blue plastic of the sensor.
I have a 1997 VW Jetta GT with the 2.0 liter A series gasoline engine. ,
I have a 2006 VW Golf with 140,000 miles. Last week took it to the shop to have a wheel bearing replaced. Mechanic also replaced the wheel hub. When I left the shop I discovered a new problem that had not previously been there. Now the Anti-lock brakes are kicking in at the very end of a soft stop on smooth, dry roads and even in my garage. This happens about 20% of the time, but never during a hard stop. I took it back to the shop on Monday and mechanic could not find anything and was perplexed. The question is whether the ABS sensor could have been damaged during repairs and is the car safe to drive?
View 14 RepliesI have a 2006 vw jetta with about 145k miles on it. When I had taken it for oil change, I was told that there is an oil leak around the oil filter bracket and was given a quote of about 1100. Here is my confusion about. There are no oil spots under the car where I park it, never seen a drop of oil under the car. So where actually is this leak happening? How serious is it? The car doesn't burn a lot of oil either, the oil level doesn't go down drastically and don't have to add oil till oil changes.
View 7 RepliesLast night I was driving in my 2003 jetta on the intersate at 65mph with the cruise control on. As I came into a turn I had to tap the brakes. As soon as I did the check engine light came on. The car was doing fine so I drove home from school. Today I drove the car to work which is a five minute drive, and back with no problem. I later went to grab lunch and bring it home and then I noticed the check engine light started flashing. I then felt the engine start to stutter, as if it was misfiring. We had the windshield defrost when we started to smell a rotten egg smell. Luckily we were pulling into our drive when we smelled the odor. I immediately turned off the car and got out. I couldn't smell the rotten egg smell, but I did smell burning plastic. I didn't see any smoke and could not pinpoint the cause of the smell.
View 4 RepliesHere are my questions.
1. What can cause repeated steering rack failures, which I am trying to dianose?
2. I found yellow spots in the snow that would come from the center of the vehicle (as opposed to near the wheels), could this be from the coolant system?
If you got that far, here is the relevant history. My wife drives my 2000 Jetta, its a nice car with repeated problems. One such problem is with the steering rack. 1. The steering rack failed in 2006, it was an expensive fix. It was leaking for a while, but I just topped off the fluid every couple of weeks. 2. Within a year the steering rack failed again, it was still under warranty. 3. 2 years later, the rack failed for a third time. I wrangled with the shop and they agreed to reduce my price for the fix even though the part was no longer under warranty. They had the car for a week trying to diagnose the problem, they said they found nothing out of the ordinary. I took the car to another mechanic a week later for some other issue, and he saw leaking from the fill plug--back to the dealer again. They said they cleaned the washers around the plug to fix the problem. No problems since then. Now its almost two years later and I have found a couple yellow spots in the snow, although near the center of the car and not near the wheels. This makes me think it may actually be a coolant leak, but I don't know right now.
Recently purchased 2003 golf gti 1.8t that had a leak on left side of engine i think it was engine coolant hose flange it Didn't leak much and coolant stayed at 190. I took the car to a mechanic and he replaced the leaking hose but now the car rises past 190 at idle.
View 2 RepliesEven though I had head gasket done/timing belt/water pump & other stuff, 3 months, ago, I'm having to check the coolant level weekly & adding about 1 cup of water to pink coolant every 8 - 9 days. The mechanic who did the work tells me that adding that "little" water in "that amount of time is nothing unusual". I know of no one else who keeps a coolant log. I'm obsessed with this problem. I've spent so much on differing repair to this car - it's as if I bought a lemon.Car has 104K mi. Have coolant problem with no coolant winding up on the ground?
VW Passat station wag. 2003 1.8 L Turbo 4 cylinder...
My 2003 GTI 24V VR6 is leaking coolant pretty quickly from the passenger side of the engine compartment. I have a new water pump in hand. If I'm replacing the water pump, would it be smart to go ahead and order a thermostat and metal crack-pipe to replace at the same time that I'm having the water pump installed? I'd hate to get the water pump installed, and find out that the leak is at the crack pipe.
View 3 RepliesI recently had a 4-wheel alignment performed on my 2003 VW Passat. A couple days after the procedure I noticed my steering wheel was stiff and a whirring noise when I turned the wheel. Come to find out my power steering fluid is now leaking. Is this just a coincidence, or could the garage have broken something. It was not leaking or making any noises prior to the alignment.
View 2 RepliesI purchased a 2003 VW Beetle Diesel and have compression leaking from the valve cover around the number 1 cylinder. It does not run or will barely run. Is this a common problem and what could cause this. i haven't tried anything yet.
View 2 RepliesMy '03 JETTA stalled on the hwy while I was driving...it just lost power and the battery light came on. I had the blower on and the radio, and the lights as it was nighttime...i turned the key to the off position and turned it back on and the car started without hesitation...what could have caused that to happen?... Battery is brand new and vehicle just had a tune up.
View 8 RepliesI have a 2003 Jetta. It runs great until it just stalls out with no warning. There doesn't seem to be any particular thing I do to make it stall. I could be accelerating onto the highway, just driving down a residential street, moving along at 60 mph, or just starting out of the parking lot. It happens when it is cold and when it is hot. It could happen twice in one day and then not for two weeks. I have taken it to the dealer, a VW specialist, an excellent auto electric specialist, and the local mechanic. No one can figure it out. I have so far replaced the fuel pump, ignition wires, distributor, several engine sensors, complete tune-up, all filters, battery, and some misc wires and hoses. All told, I have spent over $3000. replacing stuff and trying to cure this car's ills. The dealer could not get it to duplicate the stalling. No codes have shown up at the VW dealer, the local guy, and Autozone. The auto electric guy drove it over 100 miles on one week with no problem, then it stalled on him. He immediately hooked it up to the diagnostic machine....and no codes! He was perplexed.
View 7 RepliesMy 120,000 mile 2003 VW Jetta will not start in cold weather. It starts fine when the temperatures are in the 30s, sporadically in the 20s and not at all in the teens and single digits. When I turn the key, the engine does nothing; it does not crank. Three mechanics have not been able to figure out the problem.
View 7 RepliesI've got a 2002 Jetta TDI that's been playing stump the mechanic for the past two weeks. I've had about $800 worth of work (most of which had error codes and were necessary), but given that the next suggestion is to replace the fuel pump at a cost of ~$2k, I figured it was time to get some additional opinions.
When the car is completely cold, the engine typically turns over a few times before starting up. Sometimes a few turns into seven or eight, but I've never had it not start. The problem comes when I've driven it somewhere (like to the grocery store, yoga class, or to get gas, to name a few) and try to restart it after my task is done. The warmer the engine, the lower the chance it will start. In it's most extreme, the car will not start at all, and I have had it stall out on me at stoplights if I do manage to get it started.
The car has had a history of intermittent hard starts in the four years I've had it, but nothing at all like this.
In the past two weeks, my mechanic has replaced the coolant temperature sensor, thermostat and seal ring, serpentine belt tensioner and serpentine belt, power supply relay, fuel pressure regulator and seal rings and the crank sensor. They've also been able to see that something is off about the fuel pump since they can see air bubbles in the fuel line, but thought I could push the car for a while without having to replace the pump.
My car is a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLI, I was on my way somewhere when slowing down i put my car in neutral and began braking. Going faster than i thought i shifted into first gear at about 40mph. At that moment i felt rattling in both the gear stick and the clutch pedal, i tried to shift again in case it was just a hiccup and my gear stick was stuck in neutral, i couldn't switch into any gears.Now when my car is off is the only time i can move the gear stick into the gear slots. And i also lost a lot of pressure in the clutch pedal but it does not stick to the floor it returns to normal position after a moment or so.
View 6 RepliesI have an automatic 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS with 138,000 miles on it. I bought her four years ago with 91,000 miles. Right after I got her, I noticed that she'll jump a little when when she's cold (i.e. ease on the gas for the first few miles until she drives more smoothly). Looking around the web, this seems to be fairly common and most forums say that it shouldn't be a cause for any alarm.
More recently though, she's started to lag when I accelerate right around the RPMs where she should be shifting. For example, increase to about 3000 RPM, then it feels like a second of free fall, then she'll catch up and be just fine.
I took her into a shop to get it looked at about 3 weeks ago - initial thought had been maybe an issue with the transmission fluid (did a flush back in 2014 / 110k miles). The mechanic refused to do the flush until I had the catalytic converter and downstream O2 sensor replaced. The previous owner had installed a modification to the sensor and the wires had got too close to the converter and melted.
We noticed the check engine light about a year ago and had it looked at, but the mechanic then said it wasn't a huge issue and was really only going to affect our gas mileage so we held off. Since this mechanic was fairly certain that this was causing our issue, we went ahead and had the repairs made. No luck. Haven't had a chance to take her back to the shop, but I figured I'd ask to see if we were at least on the right track.
Second issue. My wife and I share this car, and her commute is significantly further than mine. She says that four times over the past two months the car has shut itself off when it comes to a stop. Not a common occurrence given the amount of driving we do, but enough to be concerning.
I've had regular oil changes and kept up with the routine maintenance over the past four years (new spark plugs, air filters, etc.). Just got a fuel system flush with the catalytic converter repair three weeks ago. Haven't changed the battery since I bought her, but every time we get the oil changed they check it and say it's good.
My 03 Jetta TDI wagon, with 210,000 miles, had a grinding sound about 10% of the time when I braked, BUT ONLY AT UNDER 5 mph...that is the last couple of seconds before completely stopping. The car braked fine, but the periodic grinding worried me. Two weeks ago, my mechanic couldn't reproduce it; today, however, we did and he identified it as the ABS (and I remembered that sound from the couple of times the ABS has kicked in during winter driving. But my question was safety, and my mechanic says the car brakes fine...he has checked them all around and driven with me...and the fault is the ABS system and not the brakes themselves. Need to verify this? The car runs fine (I am the original owner, and for the first 7 or 8 years had it solely dealer maintained) and I plan a road trip this summer, but I need a little more comfort that the ABS acting up won't result in a more serious problem.
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